Quebecois Cultural

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the stratified and parochial French Canada, against which intellectuals would rebel in the latter-half of the twentieth century, was a product of the eighteenth century. The author points out that language formulated a distinct and enduring French Canadian culture inasmuch as French Canadians clung most tenaciously to their language in the eighteenth century as a means of resisting the imperialist presence of the seemingly hostile anglophone elite. The paper relates that the language laws and interminable battles today over the proper place of the French language today in Quebec society is rooted in the old eighteenth century belief that holding on to one's mother tongue was a way of standing firm against the cultural depredations of the English.

From the Paper:

"Indeed, French Canadians tend to regard pre-1759 Quebec as the foundation of their culture and cultural identity. As at least one contemporary source has described it, the aforementioned foundation of French-speaking Canada was a "profoundly" religious one with an appreciable portion of the early French settlers (the Franciscans and the Jesuits) endeavoring to bring the Christian theology to the local indigenous peoples. Curiously, it may be said that the French Canadian heritage about which so many French-speaking inhabitants of Quebec feel justifiable pride is also a heritage that, in some respects, they have withdrawn from."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Barkan, Elliott Robert. "French Canadians." In the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, ed. Stephan Thernstrom, 388-401. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980. 388-401.
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "Le Refus Global: Revolution in the Arts." CBC Archives: Arts & Entertainment. 2006. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 Jun. 2007 <http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-68-109/arts_entertainment/refus_global/>
• Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections. "Keweenaw Ethnic Groups: The French Canadians." An Interior Ellis Island. 2007. Michigan Technological University. 1 Jun. 2007 <http://ethnicity.lib.mtu.edu/groups_FrCanada.html>
• "Number of Quebec Abortions Doubled in Past 20 Years." 2000. Euthanasia.com. 1 Jun. 2007 <http://www.euthanasia.com/quebec.html>

More papers on Quebecois Cultural:

• Persuasive Essay # 133839 : "Development of Quebec as a Distinctive Cultural Region"
• Analytical Essay # 104361 : "The Seven Years War and the Quebecois Identity"
• Term Paper # 133848 : "The Seven Years War and the Formation of Quebecois Identity"

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